Digital communication systems, such as digital telecommunication networks, typically employ one or more digital codes or patterns (sequences of digital bits--`1`s and `0`s) for command, control and/or synchronization purposes. Since the actual contents of any given pattern, its length and the number of times the pattern is repeated within a prescribed repetition interval may vary from system to system, pattern detection circuitry has been conventionally custom-configured to detect a specific pattern and none other. However, as nearly all signal processing subsystems within present day digital communication networks are micro-controller driven, it is desirable that the components of such subsystems not be usage specific, but be programmable, so that they may be capable of serving a wide variety of applications, rather than being limited to one or a few custom functions. For the case of digital pattern detection, therefore, it is desirable that the pattern detection circuitry be user-programmable, so that it may accommodate any pattern of variable content and length, while also allowing for a prescribed bit error rate.